Ministry of Cooperation Digital Technology Initiatives
The Ministry of Cooperation has implemented comprehensive digital reforms in the cooperative sector under the 'Sahkar Se Samriddhi' vision. The centerpiece is the Computerisation of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) Project with a financial outlay increased from ₹2,516 Crore to ₹2,925.39 Crore. This project has onboarded 63,686 PACS onto ERP-based national software, with 54,707 declared as e-PACS and over 51.58 crore digital transactions processed as of July 15, 2026.
The ePACS software features 22 ERP modules covering credit, deposits, accounting, audit, and member management. It has digitized loan details of 4.02 crore borrowers amounting to ₹2.3 lakh crore, deposit details of 5.49 crore depositors totaling ₹37,000 crore, and membership records of 10.30 crore members. The software supports integration with Aadhaar-enabled services, Core Banking Systems, Common Service Centres, and various national portals including PMKSK, AgriStack, and PMBJK.
National Cooperative Database and Integration
The National Cooperative Database (NCD) contains data on approximately 8.6 lakh cooperatives from 30 sectors with 32 crore members. The upgraded NCD portal 3.0, launched on July 6, 2026, features OTP-based secure login, AI Chatbot, village-level GIS mapping, multilingual support through Bhashini integration, and API integration with State RCS portals. The NCD GeoTag Mobile Application enables GPS location capture of all functional cooperatives.
Seven States/UTs have integrated their RCS portals with the NCD portal, including Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Mizoram, Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Ministry released ₹43.21 crore to 35 States/UTs for computerization of RCS offices under a ₹94.59 crore project launched on January 30, 2024.
Regulatory Reforms and Banking Expansion
The RBI has implemented significant regulatory changes for cooperative banks. Urban Cooperative Banks can now open new branches up to 15% (maximum 10 branches) of existing branches without prior approval. Rural cooperative banks were included in the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme on October 7, 2025. The RBI removed previous financial norms requiring Gross NPA below 7% and Net NPA below 3%, allowing cooperative banks to more easily provide modern banking services.
State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks can now open up to 10 new branches through an automatic route. The license fee for onboarding Cooperative Banks to Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS) has been reduced and linked to transaction volumes, with free access during the first three months of pre-production phase.
Institutional Infrastructure Development
The National Urban Cooperative Finance and Development Corporation (NUCFDC) has been established as an Umbrella Organization for approximately 1,500 UCBs, providing IT infrastructure and launching services like Digi Loan and Digi Pay. Sahakar Sarathi (Shared Service Entity) Private Limited offers technological services to Rural Cooperative Banks with 13 services launched.
NABARD is implementing the computerization of 1,851 Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (ARDBs) across 13 States/UTs, with proposals from 10 States/UTs covering 1,422 units sanctioned and ₹16.74 crore released for hardware procurement and digitization.
Governance Frameworks
NABARD launched the Cooperative Governance Index (CGI) portal for Rural Cooperative Banks on April 1, 2026, introducing measurable governance parameters. The Enhanced CAMELSC Framework captures governance, internal controls, IT risk, and cyber-security parameters supported by the SuperSoft digital supervisory platform. NABARD is developing 26 model policies aligned with RBI's Master Directions covering governance, IT, cyber security, audit, compliance, and risk management.
The Ministry has also established a Cooperative Ranking Framework launched on January 24, 2025, to assess and rank cooperatives state-wise and sector-wise across 12 major sectors including PACS, Dairy, Fishery, Urban Cooperative Banks, and Housing.